Visual Studio Code has become one of the top editors for code to be used in web-based development. Its versatility, flexibility along with the abundance of extensions makes it a highly effective tool to increase efficiency.
In this blog this article, we’ll take a look at the desirable 13 VS Code extensions that will benefit improve your frontend work flow/development. No matter if you’re using JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Angular, or other frameworks, these extensions will help you save time and energy.
Table of Contents
1. Code Spell Checker – Catch Typos and Errors
A mistake in spelling or misspelling a variable the name of a function can result in annoying bugs. Code spell checker detects the problem within the IDE.
This useful VS Code extension examines the spelling of code commentaries string, strings, as well as other literals. It flags frequent mistakes with squiggly underlines. Click on the word for some suggestions. Also, you can include your own personal vocabulary words to the dictionary.
Correcting errors in advance means less frustrating errors to run your program. Code Spell Checker improves overall the quality of your code and makes it easier to read. Real-time feedback allows you to identify issues prior to them causing bigger problems.
2. Multiple Cursor Case Preservation – Type Faster
If you have to modify different codes simultaneously The Multiple Cursor Case Preservation can save your time.
When you mark words using diverse cursors within VS Code, the case is changed to correspond with the cursor that was first highlighted. This extension helps preserve the cursor’s case for each position.
As an example, if you highlight the words displayName, displayTitle displayTitle, and displayId by adding cursors, it will transform them all into displayName. When this extension is enabled it is possible to include cursors, without needing to hit Shift to input the differences in case manually.
Although it may seem like a minor thing however, preserving the case when using multi-cursor typing makes the process significantly faster. Also, it prevents accidentally mixing up the casings of the code. This saves time providing an added efficiency boost to your work.
3. GitLens – Streamlined Git Integration
Knowing the history of code and linking the authors to it is extremely beneficial when working that use Git. GitLens is a fantastic Git integration within VS Code.
The most effective GitLen functions comprise:
- “blame annotations”: Read the Author and commit information inline on each line of code.
- Code Lens: The information on Git includes recently committed commits, the number of authors, as well as timeline links displayed on codes.
- Comparing Commits: It is easy to compare the edits to files made between commits, one by one.
Instead of switching constantly between the terminal and the editor, GitLens puts robust version control right within reach. There’s no need to bother with locating the date a modification was implemented or by whom it was made.
GitLens enhances the Git workflow. It can be used to identify the impact of changes in code, or fixing issues faster using the commit history, GitLens improves efficiency.
4. Bookmarks – Effortless Code Navigation
Moving between locations and files within large codebases is tiring. Bookmarks help you navigate code seamlessly by allowing you to customize bookmarks.
This VS Code extension allows you to set bookmarks at specific lines and jump back to them instantly later. You can give bookmarks descriptive names and even annotate them with comments.
Some key features include:
- Add bookmarks with keyboard shortcuts or the sidebar
- View bookmarks in navigational tree
- Search bookmarks easily
- See preview tooltip on hover
No more scrolling endlessly or relying solely on search to re-find important spots. Bookmarks lets you mark locations like functions you frequent or sections you’re actively working on.
The virtual breadcrumbs make working with large codebases much easier. Bookmarks are a real time-saver that facilitates rapid navigation. They create handy waypoints in documents you can jump between to stay focused.
5. Error Lens – Catch Errors Before Runtime
Hunting down errors and warnings in your code can slow you down. Error Lens visually highlights these issues inline, making them impossible to miss.
This handy extension analyzes your code and underlines errors and warnings right in the editor. Hover over the flagged line to see the details appear in a tooltip.
Some key features include:
- Underline style distinguishes errors vs warnings
- Customizable colors for the underlines
- Filter by type of diagnostic message
- Hovers work in sidebar and minimap too
Error Lens enables you to catch problems proactively instead of encountering them at runtime. The real-time feedback helps you address bugs and anti-patterns early on, saving debugging time down the road.
6. Better Comments – Improve Comment Readability
Code comments clarify logic and are crucial for maintainable code. The Better Comments extension color codes comments to categorize them.
Some ways Better Comments improves readability:
- Alerts – Highlight important todo or warning notes in bold red
- Queries – Tag follow-up questions to come back to in yellow
- TODOs – Mark unfinished tasks with bright icons
- Highlighted – Spotlight sections in green
With custom keyboard shortcuts, styling comments is fast. The color coding draws the eye to what needs your attention, separating the signal from noise.
Well-organized code comments improve documentation and onboarding. Better Comments encourages writing more helpful notes so teammates can understand code logic better.
7. Prettier – Consistent, Beautiful Code
Inconsistent coding style on teams leads to messy, frustrating diffs and merges. Prettier is an opinionated code formatter that enforces consistency.
Some key features:
- Supports many languages like JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, JSON
- Highly customizable formatting rules
- Formatting can run on save or manually
- Integrates nicely with ESLint
Rather than having endless style debates, Prettier defines rules like quote style, indent size, and line lengths. This leads to clean, uniform code in the agreed style.
With Prettier handling all the styling choices and formatting, developers can focus less on code style and more on functionality. The automation also speeds up common refactors.
Overall Prettier increases productivity. Code looks beautiful, diffs stay clean, and you never have to manually reformat again!
8. Material Icon Theme – Intuitive Visual Cues
The file explorer view offers limited visual cues distinguishing files. The Material Icon Theme adds helpful icons representing types.
Some examples include:
- 🅰️ Components
- 📁 Folders
- 🎯 Functions
- 📄 Files like PDFs
- 🔀 Routing
- 🎛️ Helpers
Beyond just file extensions, icons indicate at a glance what’s what. Popular frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue are supported too.
With over 1,500 icons, the visuals make scanning for files faster. Icons help differentiate files, improving navigation speed through projects. They also look modern and appealing.
9. Polacode – Beautiful Code Snippets
Developers frequently need to share code snippets for documentation or presentations. Rather than big code blocks, Polacode makes this visual.
Polacode lets you take formatted screenshots of code selections right within VS Code. You can customize:
- Theme – Dark, light, high contrast
- Size – Small to extra large
- Layout – Circular, boxed, padded
- Language – Color themes for JS, TS, CSS, etc
The polished images embed nicely into Markdown docs. No more scrolling screenshots or squinting at tiny text!
Polacode simplifies sharing clean code examples. The images enhance the visual appeal of readme files, pull requests, and slides. Conveying code logic becomes much more effective.
10. Live Server – See Changes in Real Time
When building websites, testing code modifications involves annoying cycles of saving, switching tabs, and refreshing. Live Server accelerates this with hot reloading.
Live Server is a simple local development server with live reload capability. Some key features:
- Lightning fast live reload on saves
- Support for CSS, JS, HTML, image changes
- Multi-browser testing – Chrome, Firefox, Edge
- Remote connect with others to demonstrate
Rather than constant context switching, Live Server streams rendered changes in real-time as you code. It’s a massive time saver to view updates instantly.
For frontend work, Live Server boosts speed and productivity. The hassle-free workflow and preview make building sites more enjoyable.
11. Bracket Pair Colorizer 2 – Match Brackets with Ease
Matching opening and closing brackets gets harder with nested depths. Bracket Pair Colorizer 2 highlights them making this effortless.
This handy extension color coordinates the paired brackets. The coloring connects the related opening and closing brackets, using varying light/dark shades to differentiate depths.
Some useful configuration options:
- Customize bracket colors
- Set highlighting priority
- Add transparency
- Control which characters to match
Scanning long bracket chains becomes much easier. By color coding the bracket relationships, you can instantly spot imbalances.
Overall, Bracket Pair Colorizer 2 reduces time spent hunting down bracket issues. Matching them speedily helps you stay focused on code logic.
12. Indent Rainbow – Identify Indentation Levels
When scanning nested code, identifying indentation levels can be tricky. Indent Rainbow solves this by color coding each depth.
This useful extension colorizes the indentation in front of lines to visualize the nesting structure. Each step deeper in the depth shifts the color hue.
Some of its helpful features:
- Custom color schemes
- Tweak # of colors used
- Control which file types are color coded
The color coded levels act as visual guideposts mapping out code structure. You can instantly spot imbalanced or excessive nesting.
By making indentation easier to visualize, Indent Rainbow improves code comprehension. It helps with patterns like callback nesting or complex logic flows.
13. Auto Rename Tag – Simultaneously Edit HTML Tags
Manually updating HTML tags when changing element names is a hassle. Auto Rename Tag handles this instantly.
When you rename an opening or closing tag, this extension automatically renames the matching one for you. Some key points:
- Works for JSX tags too
- Supports self-closing tags
- Disable for certain file types
- Handle edge cases like namespaces
Rather than doing a separate find/replace across files, automatically syncing tag names saves tons of busy work.
Auto Rename Tag eliminates frustrating mismatches from incomplete manual updates. It also lets you refactor elements rapidly across files.
